Finer Chinese tastes light up cigar craze

Cigars have never been foreign to Chinese.

Decades ago, Chairman Mao appeared in pictures smoking cigars. But it's in recent years that such luxury items - the consumption tax imposed on cigars is about 25 percent - have attracted new fans among the rich and the rising middle class.

It's easy to find a cigar store inside the five-star hotels of Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, where many showcase premium smokes from Cuba, the Dominican Republic and elsewhere. But until about 10 years ago, dealers say, most cigars sold in China were purchased by foreigners. Americans, who still cannot buy Cuban cigars at home because of the decades-old political embargo, have been particularly attracted.